Reports: Worker Raised Concerns Before Malnourished Teen Died

10:25 AM, Jul 13, 2012   |    comments
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MABLETON, Ga. (AP) -- Documents from Georgia's child protection agency show that a caseworker raised serious concerns about a teenage girl nearly 20 months before she died at age 16, weighing just 43 pounds.

CBS Atlanta obtained documents from the Georgia Division of Family and Children's Services showing the caseworker visited the home of Markea Berry in November 2010. The caseworker wrote that the girl's ribs were visible, and that she had concerns the child was being isolated in a room and not being fed.

DFCS Director Ron Scroggy declined to be interviewed by the station.

Police last month arrested the girl's mother, 38-year-old Ebony Espree Berry, who faces a murder charge.

WSB-TV reports that Berry's attorney told a judge Thursday the murder charge is too strict because the woman couldn't control her daughter's actions.

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